34 Facts About Bernarr Macfadden

Bernarr Macfadden founded the long-running magazine publishing company Macfadden Publications.

Bernarr Macfadden thought "Bernarr" sounded like the roar of a lion, and that "Macfadden" was a more masculine spelling of his last name.

Bernarr Macfadden claimed that hard work and wholesome food on the farm turned him into a strong and fit boy.

Bernarr Macfadden started exercising again with dumbbells, walking up to six miles a day with a lead weight in his clothes, and he became a vegetarian.

In 1899, Bernarr Macfadden founded Physical Culture, an American magazine on bodybuilding, health, and fitness, and was editor up to the August 1912 issue.

Bernarr Macfadden's magazines included SPORT, a preeminent sports magazine prior to Time Inc.

In 1928, Bernarr Macfadden made more overt moves into the pulps with, for example, Red Blooded Stories, Flying Stories, and Tales of Danger and Daring.

In 1931, Bernarr Macfadden purchased the assets of the Mackinnon-Fly magazine publishers, which gave him the pioneering sci-fi pulp Amazing Stories, and several other titles; they were published under the Teck Publications imprint.

Bernarr Macfadden contributed to many articles and books including The Virile Powers of Superb Manhood, MacFadden's Encyclopedia of Physical Culture, Fasting for Health, and The Milk Diet.

Bernarr Macfadden popularized the practice of fasting that previously had been associated with illnesses such as anorexia nervosa.

Bernarr Macfadden felt strongly that fasting was one of the surest ways to physical health.

Bernarr Macfadden claimed that through fasting "a person could exercise unqualified control over virtually all types of disease while revealing a degree of strength and stamina such as would put others to shame".

Bernarr Macfadden saw fasting as an instrument with which to prove a man's superiority over other men.

Bernarr Macfadden had photographs of himself taken before and after fasts to demonstrate their positive effects on the body.

For example, one photograph showed Bernarr Macfadden lifting a 100-pound dumbbell over his head immediately after a seven-day fast.

Bernarr Macfadden acknowledged the difficulties of fasting and did not support it as an ascetic practice, but rather because he believed its ultimate benefits outweighed its costs.

Bernarr Macfadden was particularly opposed to the consumption of white bread, which he called the "staff of death".

Bernarr Macfadden established many "healthatoriums" in the eastern and midwestern states.

Bernarr Macfadden viewed intercourse as a healthy activity and not solely a procreative one; this was a different attitude than most physicians had at the time.

Bernarr Macfadden attempted to found a "Physical Culture City" in Monroe Township, Middlesex County, New Jersey, which folded after a few years and became the vacation-cabin neighborhood, and, later, suburban development of Outcalt.

Bernarr Macfadden made an unsuccessful attempt to found a religion, "cosmotarianism", based on physical culture.

Bernarr Macfadden claimed that his regimen would enable him to reach the age of 150.

At the peak of his career, Bernarr Macfadden owned several hotels and a major building in Dansville, New York.

Bernarr Macfadden opened a restaurant in New York City in 1902 called Physical Culture, which was one of the city's first vegetarian venues.

Bernarr Macfadden was a proponent of raw foodism and a follower of Sylvester Graham's philosophies.

The Bernarr Macfadden School operated from 1936 to 1950, and the Tarrytown School operated from 1943 to 1954.

The Bernarr Macfadden Foundation operated Castle Heights Military Academy in Lebanon, Tennessee.

Bernarr Macfadden met his third wife, Mary Williamson Macfadden, in England when she won a contest "for the most perfect specimen of England womanhood," sponsored by Macfadden; she was a champion British swimmer.

Two of Bernarr Macfadden's children died for lack of medical care, as Bernarr Macfadden viewed all doctors as quacks.

Bernarr Macfadden died aged 87 in 1955 after refusing medical treatment for a digestive disorder.

Bernarr Macfadden is interred in Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx, New York City.

Bernarr Macfadden has drawn criticism for suggesting in his books that readers not consult any professional physician.

Bernarr Macfadden was targeted by the Society for the Suppression of Vice for producing "pornographic" posters to promote one of his Physical Culture Exhibitions.

James Whorton, PhD, notes that the glamorous and eccentric character of Bernarr Macfadden's life has led to a predilection for "the amusing tale or shocking incident" in describing it.